Cherry not speaking for network, CBC says

TORONTO -- Don Cherry isn't speaking for the CBC when he says women have no place in sports locker-rooms, the head of media relations for the public broadcaster said Monday.

But Chuck Thompson says the CBC has no plans to discipline him.

Thompson was reacting to the continued flak over Cherry's comments Saturday on his Coach's Corner segment of Hockey Night in Canada.

"Don has many opinions on a wide range of subjects and isn't shy about expressing them, this past Saturday night being no exception," said Thompson, verbally repeating almost word-for-word the statement he issued soon after the incident.

"That said, in as much as Don is hired to give hockey-related opinions on Coach's Corner, he speaks for himself and not the CBC."

Cherry, an often outspoken broadcaster, made the comments while discussing Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith, who delivered what some considered a sexist post-game putdown to a female radio reporter in Vancouver.

Keith has since apologized and said he meant no disrespect to women, but Cherry said he didn't believe the female reporter should have been allowed in the Blackhawks dressing room.

Thompson repeated that, as far as the CBC is concerned, Cherry's broadcast partner Ron MacLean provided balance to the discussion when he disagreed.

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